Tony Gwynn, legendary hitter and Hall of Famer has died of cancer at age 54. He had been on medical leave since late March from his job at his alma mater San Diego State, while recovering from cancer treatment. He had been signed to a one-year contract extension as the baseball coach at the school on June 11.
Gwynn was first diagnosed with cancer in 2010.
He hit safely in 75 percent of the games in which he played during his career, and he batted .300 in each of his last 19 seasons, a streak second only to Ty Cobb. He also was named to 15 All-Star teams, won seven Silver Slugger Awards and five Gold Glove Awards.
His eight batting titles tied for second-most in MLB history. His No. 19 was retired by the Padres in 2004.
Inducted into the Hall Of Fame in the first ballot Gwynn said,
“I played for one organization, the San Diego Padres, and when this day started out today, I thought I was going to go third. I thought I was going to get to hear what other people said about their towns and their cities. I only know one way, that’s the Padre way. I wore brown, I wore the brown and gold, I wore the blue and orange. I didn’t get a chance to wear the sand and whatever color blue you want to call that, but I’m proud as heck to be a San Diego Padre. I played for one team, I played in one town. I told the people of San Diego when I left to come to Cooperstown, they were going to be standing up here with me, so I hope they are just as nervous as I am, because this is a tremendous honor to be here today.”
Baseball and the world has way to few men like Tony Gwynn.
